Yang Chao slowly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the roll of yellow silk, as if he wanted to burn it through.
He slowly reached out his hand, but instead of accepting the imperial decree, he suddenly gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist!
"General!" Yang Hong and his personal guards inside the tent jumped up in surprise, their hands gripping the hilts of their swords.
The eunuch delivering the imperial decree's words changed his expression and took a half-step back: "Yang Chao! Do you intend to defy the imperial decree and rebel?"
Yang Chao's hands tightened and loosened on the sword hilt repeatedly, his chest heaving violently.
Outside the tent, unusual troop movements and suppressed commotion could be heard—the contents of the imperial edict had probably already spread rapidly.
Finally, he took a deep breath and, extremely slowly and stiffly, accepted the heavy, icy-cold yellow silk with both hands.
"Your subject...accepts the decree."
His voice was hoarse, like a broken gong.
The eunuch seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but with a hint of barely perceptible disdain:
"In that case, I will report to His Majesty. General Zhang Tao will arrive soon. Take care of yourself."
After saying that, he turned and left in a hurry, as if staying even a moment longer would be dangerous.
As soon as the eunuch left, Yang Chao slammed the imperial edict to the ground and kicked over the table in front of him!
"Li Jingang! You've gone too far!" he roared hoarsely. "My Yang family risked our lives for your Li family, and this is how you treat me! You want to take my military power, you want to take my life? Fine, fine! You forced me to this!"
He drew his sword with a swift motion, its cold gleam reflecting on his ferocious face: "Yang Hong!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Pass on my orders!" Yang Chao pointed his sword at the imperial edict on the ground, enunciating each word with murderous intent. "All troops are on high alert. Without my orders, not a single soldier may move, nor may they be handed over to anyone else!"
"Send another fast horse to chase after Zhao Muyun's messenger! Tell him that I accept all his conditions and will withdraw my troops tonight!"
"But I need him to provide a batch of armor and weapons immediately, especially spears and crossbows to deal with cavalry! Also, I need him to find a way to hold off Zhang Tao for at least two days!"
"General, what are you doing...?"
"Li Jingang is ruthless, so don't blame me for being unrighteous!"
Yang Chao's eyes were filled with madness. "Back to Jiannan? No! I'll kill Zhang Tao, this vicious dog who came to steal my food, first, and use his head as a sacrifice for my flag. Then I'll sweep through Henan and see what Li Jingang can do to me!"
"Zhao Muyun wants to use me? Perfect, I'll take advantage of his influence and connections! Go now!"
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